UC Berkeley

This dissertation is a historical analysis of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the movement for Black lives (MBL) in Los Angeles from 2013 to 2021. It is also a theoretical consideration of the prospects and complications of racial justice activism in the 21st century. It interrogates the political philosophies and organizational strategies of BLM/MBL. This study explores how the intervention of intersectional, intergenerational, and decentralized leadership forms have disrupted heteropatriarchal traditions in the Black freedom struggle. It evaluates the significance and utility of Marxism in addressing issues of economic crisis and state-sanctioned violence from the 2008 Great Recession to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also evaluates how BLM/MBL has interfaced with labor organizing and other racial justice developments like the #StopAsianHate, #AbolishICE, and Indigenous Sovereignty movements. Lastly, it examines the vital role of youth and student activism in college campuses and community-based non-profit organizations in both initiating BLM/MBL and in sustaining its mobilization.

KEY WORDS: Black Lives Matter, racial justice activism, abolition, anti-capitalism, intersectionality, Marxism, state-sanctioned violence, labor organizing, youth activism